Wikipedia is and has always been shit. It’s where institutions go to write down their propaganda so it sounds authoritative. In fact it’s the precursor to AI in that sense. It’s credentialism all the way down. If something is said somewhere by anyone, then it becomes a source. Unless that source is not approved of installed by the powers that let wikipedia gracefully host its websites.
If a page regarding a political or historical event isn’t under constant scrutiny, state actors and “trolls” will gradually alter it until it says nothing conclusive at all. Everything must be up in the air, everything must be “neutral” (when language itself is political…)
Also think about the incentives. You’re a government. You have people working full time to redact history. You CAN and you WILL threaten people who write the wrong version of history. This is not even hidden, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Wikipedia–U.S._government_conflicts
They can see it happening, they can document it happening, and they can’t do shit to change it because they’re not a peer to peer project. Like the fediverse for that matter, it’s all vulnerable to the same exact “a guy in a suit rang your doorbell because the server is on your premises” tactic.
So in conclusion, believing that “wikipedia good” and “AI bad” is an incredibly naive way to understand the world. Read up on Wittgenstein and Sapir-Whorf and tell me how this isn’t literally their theories being implemented.
Social engineering is stupid people being stupid and then being surprised that their stupidity has consequences. Unless physical coercion is involved, like in the xckd comic about the wrench, then education is the fix here. I got my account stolen in Habbo once when I was a kid and I was never scammed again in my life.
You’re basically arguing that since people can burn themselves on the stove, that stoves are not as safe as ovens and that ovens are preferable. That’s bullshit, getting burnt is part of learning to respect the technology.
You’re the reason all those toys like Mattel’s VAC-U-FORM got castrated because some stupid kid got burnt once and the mom went nuclear, cucking all the other kids who wanted to learn how industrial manufacturing actually works.
I don’t need an institutional daddy to safeguard me from the consequences of my own actions. I need the floor to be there so I can smash my face on it and update my priors.